John F. Kennedy-signed Campaign Hat, ca. 1960
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GUEST:
So this is a hat that my boyfriend's grandmother picked up.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
And she lived in Idaho in 1960, and Kennedy made a campaign stop there in Idaho, and she worked on the campaign. But a friend of hers apparently met Kennedy and got this hat signed and gave it to her.
APPRAISER:
Cool. It's a neat hat. I mean, it's a standard kind of premium giveaway hat. A molded plastic.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And it looks like Angie Dickinson signed it here.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And then we have the image of his PT 109, which was his boat from World War II. And of course '60 for the year of the campaign. And then here we have Kennedy's signature.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Now, Kennedy's signatures are very tricky. Because it evolved over many, many years, and it changed quite a bit. It became very hard to read. He also used autopen and secretarial signatures. So it's complicated. This is also a hard place to sign.
GUEST:
Right, it would be very difficult.
APPRAISER:
On the hat. So, but in my opinion, based on ones I've seen, that looks perfectly right to me.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And so it's cool.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
So if this hat as a collectible item wasn't signed, but a neat Kennedy political item, in this condition, you know, retail is maybe $30 to $40.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Now we put Angie Dickinson, that helps it a little bit. But we take Kennedy and put it on there, his signature is fairly scarce, because he did use autopen quite a bit.
GUEST:
Okay.
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